


Time Is Up

by FayP



Category: Short Horror Stories, Short Stories - Fandom, independent writing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayP/pseuds/FayP
Summary: A bus trip is cut short due to mechanical problems, leaving a group of the last passengers wondering along the road, looking for a place to spend the night. Their search is soon over when they come across a rather off the map motel, the "Last Stop Resort".





	Time Is Up

**_Time is up_ **

 

 

The bus stopped moving completely after a few minutes of weird sounds. The few passengers, myself including, got off and waited for the driver to have a look at the engine. “Well, it looks like I’m going to have to call for help. This isn’t going to fix itself.”, said the old man while still having his head shoved inside the front of the bus. “I’d advise you all to go find some place to spend the night and do it fast. The sun will be going down any minute now and you wouldn’t want to find yourselves wondering around in the middle of the night,” His voice was dry, but you could recognize the tone of concern in it. Most of the passengers had already gotten off at the previous stop and now there were only four of us left, strangers to one another, about to wonder in the deserted road that presented itself in front of us. A road that seamed endless and dark in both the literal and metaphorical meanings of the words.

    The moment the sun went down the weather took a turn. I could feel the chill and the humidity eating their way through my bones. The starts weren’t visible through the dark clouds and the atmosphere was getting colder by the minute. Nobody was talking. We were all wondering in our own thoughts. Being so lost in mine, I didn’t realize how far from the others I had walked, but I quickly returned to reality from a poke on the shoulder. I jumped and turned around only to find one of the passengers. He was tall, and his blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight. He was social from what I had gathered during the bus trip, always talking with others, making jokes, lighting the mood, making the trip seem shorter. His smile appeared white through the darkness of the night and I found myself unable to take my eyes off of his. They say light colored eyes are cold and emotionless, but not his. His, being the exception to the rule, were warm and friendly, made you feel like you could tell them anything, trust them with your darkest thoughts, with your life. We were walking next to each other, not saying a word. I could feel my awkwardness pounding so hard through my chest and my anxiety and nervousness laughing so loudly that he would soon enough be able to hear them.

Thankfully the wonder was over sooner than expected, when the road finally led us to an old-fashioned bed and breakfast. The sign on the front read ‘Last Stop Resort’ in big letters, half of which were flickering in bright red color. It didn’t look like it got many visitors, but that made sense considering we were off the main road, in the middle of nowhere. A man came out of the reception office and welcomed us under the dim light. He was middle aged and not too long. His hair was grey and his face although tired, was friendly and smiling. “Welcome to the Last StopResort” he said with a soft, thin, child-like voice and gave us a key. “I’m afraid I only have one room left, the rest are occupied.” Room thirteen. ‘What an irony’ I thought to myself. We followed the man to our door, passing in front of the rest of the cabins as ours was the last one, where he said goodnight and turned around. While walking away he casted anxious blinks here and there, but as well as towards us and our room.

 The room was smaller than I would have expected. It had one double bed, a bedside table on one side and a small bathroom across from the bed. The window was on the wall on the other side of the room as we came in the door. The only decoration was a clock above the bathroom door that seemed to have stopped at eleven o’clock. There were four of us, three girls and Nathaniel, that was his name, just as handsome as he was. The two girls lied on the floor on an improvised bedspread of pillows and blankets and I took the right side of the bed by the window. Nathaniel lied down next to me. I could feel my heart about to explode from inside my chest and I although I casted glances over to his side, I didn’t dare turning my head and looking at him. I had my sight fixated to the sealing and I stood so still, like I was petrified. He turned and look at me. “Goodnight”. His voice was deep and his tone soft like velvet. I gathered all my strength and look into his eyes. His beautiful, intimate eyes. Eyes that glowed like fireflies in the dark depths of the room. I slowly closed my eyes. If I only knew what was about to happen I would have kept them open a bit longer.

 I woke up from the scream of one of the girls on the flour. She had frozen looking behind me, at the window. The shadow of a man was trembling under the weak light. The next minute the man was gone and loud footsteps followed, circling the cabin, to the front door. Silence. Nothing but the rustling of the brunches on the wooden wall. The silence broke suddenly from the rapid, loud opening of the door. The figure was now clearer that just a shadow. I froze. My brain was sending messages to my legs ordering them to move but they wouldn’t obey. My whole body felt numb from fear. I was terrified and thus petrified. I wanted to scream, but my voice was hiding in the depths of my body. There was still no sign of movement. Time stood still along with us four. I reached for Nathaniel’s hand, but it had already grabbed mine. I held onto him as hard as I possibly could and felt his fingers stroking mine.

Before I could blink, the man had made his way to the first girl on the flour, who frightened as she was, was shaking, tears running down to her cheeks, but still unable to move. A glimmer of a knife and then blood. The black-haired girl fell to the floor. Motion- and emotionless. It took me a minute to realize what had just happened, although it still felt like I was trapped inside a nightmare. Screams and panic dominated the atmosphere of the room. Once I managed to move my legs I jumped off of the bed and crawled to the window. The other girl, who was already in the bathroom when the unexpected happened, was hiding in there. Nathaniel was between me and the man, but wouldn’t move aside no matter how much I tried to pull him towards me. “Go! Don’t hesitate and go get some help!” His voice was cracking by the end of the sentence, but when he turned to look at me his eyes didn’t show any sign fear. And then, the lustre of his eyes turned into emptiness. His warm, familiar blue eyes were now cold. His body fell to the floor in front of me and time stopped. I fell down on my knees. Everything around me was now dark, the man, the girl peaking from the bathroom door, everything. Blood covered my hands. Nathaniel’s blood. I woke from my mental state and trying not to look back I opened the window and jumped outside, while the had made his way to the bathroom. ‘You have to get help. You have to survive. Nathaniel did not die so that you would sit still!’ My thoughts conquered my whole being.

 I started running in the dark. The wind was now howling through the trees and the first drops of rain had started falling. A scream sounded from my cabin and then dead silence. The road back to the bus was long and I did not have much time. The house of the owner was on top of the hill across from the cabins but it was too far for me to reach. There had to be a phone in the reception, so I thought I would try calling for help, but once I reached the door it, it was locked. ‘Just like every single horror movie’ I thought to myself. Panic got the best of me. I couldn’t think, my mind was blank. The only word i could bring myself to think of was ‘Help’. Not the how, neither the where nor the who. Just help. And then I remembered. The rest of the cabins were occupied, meaning people had to be inside and people equaled help. I felt relief knowing that now besides help, I also had the how and the who.

 I opened the door of the first cabin in front of me. It was the third one from the reception. The bed was unmade and the light switch didn’t work. “Hello?” I could hear my voice trembling from a mix of fear and crying. No answer. “Is there anybody here?” Still nothing. ‘that is the part where you are supposed to start running for your life’ said my mind again. I now knew i had watched one too many horror movies. I felt a cold breeze, a strange feeling in my stomach that something was not right, besides the obvious. I made my way to the bathroom and tried the light switch there. I jumped on the sight of the reflection on the bathroom mirror and a scream came out of my mouth before I could do anything to stop it. I turned around hoping my eyes were playing games with me. There, right behind me, was a bathtub with the curtain closed. Tears started streaming down my face again and I felt my legs shaking trying to keep me standing. An arm was hanging from the side of the tub. An arm as white as the bathroom tiles, which on a second look had a slightly faded red stripe. With slow, unsteady steps and my hand around my mouth so that I wouldn’t scream again, I walked towards the bathtub. I stood in front of the still arm a couple of seconds trying to gather my strength and in hesitancy I pulled the curtain to the side.

 The old light bulb of the bathroom was flickering but the sight in front of me was clear as ice. My whole body was shaking and my legs, unable to keep my weight any longer, let me fall to the floor. My throat was dry and my voice hiding once again, whilst my contact with my surroundings was gone. I heard the sound of something being dragged across the outside of the wooden cabin and returned to reality immediately. I got up slowly, turned off the light and gathering my strength and determination got in the bathtub next to the pale woman and shut the curtain in front of me. On top of the woman was a clock just like the one in our cabin, only this one showed half past twelve. I looked down at my watch. Ten past twelve. I waited for a sound, a sign that the man was gone, but nothing. The only thing I could hear was the wind through the old glass of the bathroom window. Just like that passed the seconds, minutes maybe, as I waited. And then I heard it. The sound I wanted to hear the least.

 The front door opened with a squeak. “Are you here little girl?” I held my breath. “You cannot run away from me. No one can. Not even those who tried.” The voice was rough and getting closer. My heart was pounding fast but at the same time I felt like it had stopped. The steps had stopped and for what seemed like an eternity there were no signs that anyone was in the next room. Three knocks on the bathroom door and then silence again. The door opened slowly, while making squeaking sounds and the steps stopped in front of the bathtub. “I’m sure you can understand how lonely it gets here. Ever since the main road was built it’s rare for me to have visitors staying over. The few that make their way here are always in a hurry. Always in a hurry to leave. Leave and leave me here alone again. Not one wants to stay a little longer.’ Although his voice was filled with rage, there was also a sign of despair. “Why don’t they want to keep me company? Loneliness is scaring me. I talk to myself, I talk to my staffed animals. I feel like I am slowly going insane. I don’t want to be alone!” His voice broke towards to end of the sentence. Tears of fear were now running down my cheeks. My body had frozen in the corner of the bathtub.

 The curtain opened abruptly. I jumped up sobbing. The knife in his hand was still dripping blood from his previous victims. “I will stay.” I said before taking the time to debate whether or not it was a smart move. “I will stay with you a little bit longer. You will not be alone.” He stared at me in disbelief, but his face was now calm. “Really? You truthfully will?” His voice was now soft, thin, child-like. The same voice we had been welcomed here by. I looked at him pleadingly. “Liar!” The rough voice and the impassive expression had returned. “This way you will never be able to leave. This way we both win. You can stay here forever and I can have company. You will all be here forever and I will have more and more company!”, he said with an arrogant smile, his face looking more insane by the second. The next moment the expression had changed.“I’m sorry…” said the soft voice with an empathetic smile. Car lights appeared from the window and I heard the engine of a car turning off. And then, the smile was gone. Before I could scream for help I felt warm blood running down my neck. I kneeled down in the tub. My watch matched now the time of the clock. Half past twelve. The man became a blur and the door shut closed as he walked outside of the cabin towards his new guests – or shall I saw potential victims. “Welcome to the Off-Road Resort!” Said the soft, thin, child-like voice. Everything went black as I slowly lied down next to the already dead woman.


End file.
